Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) can be used to provide low-cost, low-power lighting in a variety of situations. In particular, LEDs can provide for identification information that can be visible at night or in other dark environments. One way to achieve this is to use LEDs that emit visible light; another way to achieve this is to use LEDs that emit infrared light. The former makes the lighting visible to the naked eye, while the latter requires infrared viewing technology to see.
By allowing for early identification of objects, particularly human beings, at night, or in other dark environments, it would be possible for detecting parties to take appropriate action, which in some cases could serve to save lives. For example, in military situations it would allow for the quick identification of friendly parties, lessening the chance of injury by friendly fire. Likewise, in non-military situations, a driver at night could identify a walker or a biker at night and take early actions to avoid striking the walker or biker with his vehicle.
In some situations it is desirable to have the light emitted by the LEDs to be visible to the naked eye (e.g., when a driver is looking for walkers or bikers), while in other situations it is desirable to have the light emitted by the LEDs only be visible to someone using infrared viewing technology (e.g., when a soldier is looking to identify friendly combatants). Furthermore, circumstances might change in a given situation calling for what was once a visible signal to become infrared, or for an infrared signal to become visible. For example, police officers engaging in a raid on a building at night might wish to be identified as police only by their compatriots to avoid incidents of friendly fire, while after the raid, the officers might wish to be identified as police by anyone.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a thin, low-power, flexible lighting device that includes both visible light light-emitting elements and infrared light-emitting elements, but that can be manufactured in an economical manner.